As many predicted, President Donald J. Trump has reiterated his administration’s stance on Iran, saying that they will not be allowed to have nuclear weapons and emphasized the “peace through strength” stratagem championed by the Trump Administration.

Full remarks from President Donald J. Trump regarding Iran during tonight’s State of the Union:

“As President, I will make peace wherever I can, but I will never hesitate to confront threats to America wherever we must. That's why in a breakthrough operation last June, the United States military obliterated Iran's nuclear weapons program with an attack on Iranian soil known as Operation Midnight Hammer.

For decades, it had been the policy of the United States never to allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon. Many decades. Since they seized control of that proud nation 47 years ago, the regime and its murderous proxies have spread nothing but terrorism and death and hate.

They've killed and maimed thousands of American service members and hundreds of thousands and even millions of people - with what's called roadside bombs. They were the kings of the roadside bomb. And we took out Soleimani. I did that during my first term. Had a huge impact. He was the father of the roadside bomb. And just over the last couple of months with the protests, they've killed at least, it looks like, 32,000 protesters. 32,000 protesters in their own country. They shot them and hung them. We stopped them from hanging a lot of them with the threat of serious violence. But this is some terrible people.

They've already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas and they're working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America. After Midnight Hammer, they were warned to make no future attempts to rebuild their weapons program in a particular area - nuclear weapons, yet they continue starting it all over. We wiped it out and they want to start all over again and are at this moment again pursuing their sinister ambitions.

We are in negotiations with them. They want to make a deal, but we haven't heard those secret words: ‘We will never have a nuclear weapon.’ My preference is to solve this problem through diplomacy. But one thing is certain: I will never allow the world's number one sponsor of terror, which they are by far, to have a nuclear weapon. Can't let that happen. And no nation should ever doubt America's result.

We have the most powerful military on Earth. I rebuilt the military in my first term. We're going to continue to do so also, which is to prove the trillion-dollar budget. We have no choice. We have to be strong. because hopefully we will seldom have to use this great power that we built together. It's really called peace through strength, and it's been very, very effective. So thanks to Republicans in Congress, we're investing that record number of dollars, have no choice, in the United States Armed Forces.

We're also creating a lot of jobs, but we're not even doing it for that reason. Because, as I said, we have more jobs, more people working today than ever before in the history of our country. And NATO countries are friends and allies. They are. They're our friends and they're our allies. They’ve just agreed, at my very strong request, to pay 5% of GDP for military defense rather than the 2%, which they weren't paying. We were paying for almost all of NATO. Now they're paying 5 as opposed to not paying 5.”

Video credit: @TheLukeReport

U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer Eric Slover, a Chinook helicopter pilot, was just awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor during President Trump’s SOTU Address for his actions under fire during the targeted raid that ended in the capture and extraction of Former Venezuelan President Nicholas Maduro in January. An American Legend!

President Trump has now finished his State of the Union Address.

According to AFP, an unnamed Lebanese Hezbollah (LH) official has said that LH will not respond militarily to “limited” U.S. military action against Iran, but caveated the statement by saying that targeted strikes against Iran’s supreme leader will not be tolerated by the group.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel at the Knesset today during his visit to Israel. The visit follows a number of announcements regarding increased cooperation between the two nations, including foreign military sales and economic cooperation. This comes as India struggles to balance its strategic outlook amidst pressure from the U.S. to limit its cooperation with U.S. competitors and adversaries.

Historically, India has “sat the fence” on geopolitical issues and has come under fire from both U.S. Presidents Donald J. Trump and Joe Biden in the past for such an outlook.

According to a release from the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), over 30 individuals, assets, and entities that potentiate Iran's petroleum sales and their ballistic missile/advanced conventional weapons production have been sanctioned in a continuation of the "maximum pressure campaign" enacted by the Trump administration. Additionally, OFAC also targeted networks that potentiate the efforts of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).

According to the Cuban Ministry of the Interior (MININT), a fast boat originating in the U.S. was fired upon by Cuban Border Guard surface units after the individuals on the boat fired on them and injured a Cuban commander. As a result, 4 individuals on the vessel were reportedly killed and 6 injured

Approximate location of the recent incident between a vessel originating in the U.S. and the Cuban Border Guard that saw 7 injured, including a Cuban commander, and 4 killed.

Per Kristen Holmes of CNN, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed Vice President JD Vance on the incident between the Cuban Border Guard and a vessel carrying people attempting to extract relatives from Cuba, with Vance saying “Marco (Rubio) briefed me about 15 minutes ago on it, but we don't know a whole lot of details,” Vance said during an unrelated event at WH. "Hopefully it's not as bad we fear it could be. But can't say more, because I just don't know more."

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with his Omani counterpart in Geneva, Switzerland today and presented a draft proposal to be presented to the U.S. delegation tomorrow. However, some officials are skeptical that key points of contention can be smoothed over. This comes as the U.S. continues to bolster its force posture in the CENTCOM AOR.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has arrested a former pilot with the U.S. Air Force, Maj. Gerald Brown, in Jeffersonville, Indiana, for providing training to members of the Chinese Air Force. Maj. Brown retired in 1996 following a 24-year-career flying multiple platforms for the Air Force. He most recently was a contract simulator instructor for multiple contractors on the A-10 and F-35 before going to China in December 2023 to begin training the Chinese.

The United States has sent top-of-the-line fighters, F-22 Raptors, to Israel, marking the first time it has deployed combat aircraft to the country for a potential wartime mission as the two nations prepare to square off against Iran, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The Trump Administration hasn’t officially announced the deployment, and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American military forces in the region, declined to comment, though videos of the aircraft arriving in Israel began appearing on social media Tuesday.

The deployment of F-22s to Israel comes as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have said they won’t let the U.S. use their airspace or territory for an attack on Iran, limiting American options for basing the hundreds of aircraft necessary for a major air campaign against the Islamic Republic.

Use of Israeli air bases will enable the U.S. Air Force to disperse its warplanes among a variety of bases, rather than concentrating all of its air power in a handful of regional airfields closer to Iran, U.S. officials tell the Wall Street Journal.

During a briefing earlier today, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Iran poses a “very grave threat” to the U.S. and that they are actively working to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles that could target the Continental United States. This comes as Iran submitted a draft proposal to Omani mediators today in Geneva, Switzerland, as the third round of indirect talks surrounding their ballistic missile production and nuclear program are set to kick off Thursday.

Senior advisers to President Donald J. Trump would prefer Israel strike Iran before the United States launches a large-scale air campaign on the country, stating that “the politics are a lot better if the Israelis go first and alone and the Iranians retaliate,” claiming that Iranian retaliation would help muster support from American voters for a U.S. strike, two people familiar with ongoing discussions told Politico.

According to a release from the Cuban Embassy in the United States, eight individuals allegedly involved in the shooting from earlier today have been identified. Amijail Sánchez González, Leordan Enrique Cruz Gómez, Conrado Galindo Sariol, José Manuel Rodríguez Castelló, Cristian Ernesto Acosta Guevara, and Roberto Azcorra Consuegra have been identified after being questioned by Cuban authorities, with Michel Ortega Casanov being identified as one of the four killed in the exchange of fire with the Cuban Border Guard.

Additionally, Cuban authorities have claimed that assault rifles, handguns, improvised explosive devices (Molotov cocktails), body armor, telescopic sights, and camouflage uniforms were all seized on the boat, and Cuban authorities are alleging that they planned to carry out "terrorist acts" inside of Cuba.

An additional individual, Cuban national Duniel Hernández Santos, was arrested inside of Cuba, and Cuban authorities claim that he confessed to being prepositioned from the U.S. to Cuba in order to facilitate the landing of the group near Canal el Pino.

According to Libby Dean of NewsNation, the boat used in the attempted extraction that was foiled by Cuban authorities was registered to a 65-year-old Cuban-born man who reported the vessel as stolen after being contacted by U.S. authorities. The vessel was docked in the Florida Keys. The individual in question is not a suspect at this time. Four people were killed and seven injured, including a Cuban Border Guardsman, in the exchange of fire that took place 1nm northeast of the El Pino Canal.

Ahead of tomorrow’s third round of nuclear talks in Geneva between Iran and the United States, mediated by Oman, traders on Polymarket appear to be growing more confident that a new nuclear deal can be decided upon, with the chances of a nuclear agreement between the U.S. and Iran before the end of 2027 currently sitting at 54%.

In addition to the 11 F-22 Raptors now forward deployed to Ovda Airbase in Southern Israel, more and more Raptors with the U.S. Air Force’s 1st Fighter Wing continue to arrive at RAF Lakenheath in Suffolk, England, from Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia. 13 F-22s currently remain at Lakenheath, 12 that have arrived in the last day from the United States as well as one from the first wave to Israel that suffered a fuel leak and was forced to return to Suffolk, with all of them expected to continue on to Israel by Friday.

The buildup in the Middle East continues while negotiations are scheduled to resume at 5:30p.m. Geneva time with several U.S. Air Force heavy lift aircraft in transit including 1 C-5M Super Galaxy, 13 C-17A Globemaster III, and 2 KC-46A Pegasus.